Blackmail
by rubygurl
Summary: Just a short S+S fic with a bit of E+T...Syaoran loses his journal and Eriol finds it...uh-oh


Sakura~  
  
I skated happily down the street to school. As I rounded the corner, I almost slammed into a guy on a skateboard who was right in front of me. I had of course seen him, but half the fun was scaring him half to death.  
  
"Ahh!" he screamed out loud. I giggled as he slid off his board and landed on the ground, facedown. Who was he? Li Syaoran, my ex-rival and now one of my best friends and also my secret love. Every time we were together though, we always had to be careful of my older brother. Touya was always an overprotective brother, but I loved him anyways.  
  
"Sakura! What that hell was that for?" Syaoran yelled at me as he flipped back up. He was usually graceful, but I guess that I caught him by surprise.  
  
I shot him an innocent smile. "Oh, gomen ne Syaoran-kun. I didn't notice you there. Daijobu?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks a lot!"  
  
"No problem. What were you thinking about that was so important that you didn't sense me coming towards you?" I suddenly asked, serious.  
  
"Nothing!" Syaoran shot back at me.  
  
"Gomen nasi!" I replied, hurt that he was yelling at me. I could see that he was sorry for yelling at me, but he couldn't get the words out. He stared at me, trying as hard as he could to, but I knew that Li ancestry had bestowed upon him a great sense of pride. Watching him move his mouth without any words coming out was almost too much for me to bear.  
  
"It's ok," I said, helping him out, grinning at his efforts.  
  
He smiled at me, amber eyes lighting up in happiness. Shivers went down my spine as I tried to remain calm, smiling back at him. We made our way to school together.  
  
Blackmail ~RubyGurl  
  
Just a lil S+S fic.with a bit of E+T in it.enjoy.  
  
Normal~  
  
"Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo shouted to her from across the crowded classroom as she entered with Eriol. Sakura waved from where she was sitting with Syaoran.  
  
"Ohayou Tomoyo-chan!"  
  
"Ohayou Sakura-chan, Li-kun.where did you get that nasty scratch on your leg?"  
  
"Hoe!" Sakura exclaimed as Syaoran shot her a nasty look. "I have no idea!"  
  
"Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo giggled. _I_ They are so kawaii! _I_  
  
"Eriol-san, Ohayou!" Sakura greeted him cheerfully, pointedly ignoring Tomoyo.  
  
"Ohayou Sakura-chan, Li-kun, my cute liddle descendant!"  
  
"Shut up Hiiragiwaza!"  
  
"Hey, Li-kun, I've got something to show ya, c'mon!" Eriol dragged him outside the classroom.  
  
Sakura stared at them wide-eyed while Tomoyo sweat-dropped.  
  
"Ohohoho," she laughed weakly.  
  
"Whadya want, Hiiragiwaza?" Syaoran snapped at him.  
  
"Well, when we were at your locker yesterday, something very interesting dropped out. I was gonna return it, but then I realized something, I can get you to do something for me." Eriol smiled very evilly as he held up a small journal. Syaoran's eyes widened, then narrowed in hatred at Eriol.  
  
"Hiiragiwaza, give it back now!"  
  
"Uh-uh, not until you do something for me.such as telling a certain girl how you really feel about her.unless you want me to myself. I mean, I have all the proof, right here." Eriol held the book out of Syaoran's reach above his head. Since Eriol towered at 6'3", Syaoran's 6' was a bit insufficient to reach his beloved journal.  
  
"I really never knew that you were this poetic Syaoran, all this stuff about how 'she rivals the beauty of the goddesses and her smile brightens my day up immediately. Every moment with her is pure bliss to me, and every moment without her is pure torture.'" Eriol read out as he flipped through the journal.  
  
"Hiiragiwaza." Syaoran said through gritted teeth. "Give it back to me right now!"  
  
"Like I said, there's a certain girl I know, who you would love to go with you on a date, and that's when you're going to tell her.hmm.now when should I set this up? On a day when Tomoyo's here so she can videotape everything.hmm.tomorrow seems good.ne?"  
  
"No way in freaking hell!" Syaoran yelled out, clenching his fists in rage. "I'm warning you, Hiiragiwaza."  
  
Sakura and Tomoyo poked their heads out of the door.  
  
"Syaoran-kun, Eriol-san?" Sakura asked him timidly. "Are you guys OK?"  
  
"Hai!" Eriol acknowledged. "Ohayou Sakura-chan! I found out some very interesting information that I want to show you. You must absolutely take a look at it! It's marvelous! Here!" As was about to read off something to her, Syaoran grabbed a notebook away from his hands, muttering incoherently about blackmail and evil.  
  
"Never mind," Eriol told Sakura with a grin. As they headed back into the classroom, he whispered to Syaoran, "Don't worry, I have plenty of copies at home, so you're not safe yet!"  
  
Syaoran's veins popped out in pure anger and hatred at his ancestor.  
  
"Don't forget about the little deal. Tomorrow is the date, 7 at night at the.well, you pick a restaurant, and I'd better know what it is by tonight. Got it?"  
  
"Hai," Syaoran muttered, shooting Eriol a murderous glare.  
  
"Good!" Eriol smirked at Syaoran and went to his seat. He gave a sight nod to Tomoyo, who smiled brightly at the fact that their plan was working.  
  
Syaoran tried to concentrate on his class work, but it was difficult when Sakura still sat directly in front of him. What Eriol had said before, was it true? Did she really like him? Or was that bastard just lying again.  
  
Syaoran sighed as his mind went in circles trying to make sense of nothing. Sakura, sifting in front of him, chewed slightly on the tip of her eraser, absorbed in her work.  
  
She shifted slightly in her seat, and let out a slight sigh as she realized that she had just made a huge mistake in one of her math problems. Syaoran watched her with an amused smile as she furiously erased her work and started to redo it.  
  
Syaoran took another glance at her, and his entire mind just went blank. How could that one girl just take him over like that?  
  
_I_ Well, I guess that I'll find out if she feels the same way about me soon enough, he thought to himself. Since she's having so much trouble in math, I'll ask her to come to my house so I can tutor her, and then maybe I'll ask her then. Maybe. Baka! Hiiragiwaza, you are so going to pay for this! _I_  
  
Syaoran was still contemplating on how to kill Eriol, he was on his one hundredth and fifty-sixth idea, when he noticed that his sensei was talking to him.  
  
"Li-kun? Li-kun! LI-KUN!"  
  
"Eh? Huh? What? Oh, umm.hai?" Syaoran rewound the conversation that had been going on that he had only half-listened to. "Ahh.to find the distance between them, you need to use the formula x1+x2 and divide it by 2 to get the x part of the coordinate, and then you have y1+y2 and divide that by 2 too to get the y part of the coordinate."  
  
Glaring at Syaoran, his teacher wondered how in the world he had been able to come up with that answer. She had been sure that he hadn't been paying attention to her talking in class. She gave Syaoran another hard look, but he was lost already, staring out his window in boredom. She went back to lecturing the class on how to graph equations again, and Syaoran stole a glance at Sakura.  
  
She was also not paying attention to what their sensei was saying, but unlike him, if she was caught, then she wouldn't know what to say and would make a total fool out of herself trying to figure out an answer.  
  
Suddenly, Syaoran's hazel eyes widened as a piece of paper came flying his way, neatly landing on his desk.  
  
Looking up, Syaoran say Tomoyo wink at him, then return her attention to Sumika Sensei, acting as if she was actually paying attention to the lesson.  
  
Opening the note, Syaoran hid a smile as he read it.  
  
Li-kun,  
  
You really should pay more attention in class! This graphing stuff will really help us out in our lives! I realize that you love Sakura-chan, but you are really getting out of control, drooling over her in class like that. Oh, and I can't wait till the date!  
  
~Tomoyo-chan  
  
Quickly, Syaoran grabbed his pen and scribbled a note back to her, but also noticing that Sakura didn't understand half of the things that Sumika- sensei was saying.  
  
Daidouji!  
  
You are so wrong, nothing is going on between Sakura and I, and the only reason that I will ask her out tomorrow is because we're going to celebrate the fact that she actually passed her math test today, C+. We're going to have a study date tonight because she didn't understand anything that Sumika said. And I do not drool, your eyes must be going bad. thinking about getting glasses?  
  
Li  
  
Flipping the note back to Tomoyo, Syaoran stood up exactly as the bell rang to end class.  
  
Tomoyo giggled and smiled at Eriol, sure that their plan was going to be a success.  
  
~Later~  
  
Syaoran sighed again as he waited for Sakura patiently after her cheerleading practice. He had just showered, and was still hot from his basketball practice.  
  
Silently, he watched Sakura jump and then cartwheel. She flipped, in sync with the rest of the cheerleaders, and then performed a perfect cartwheel in ending. He smiled, noticing how vibrant she seemed.  
  
"I noticed that you didn't get a lot of what Sumika-sensei was talking about in Math, did you?" he asked her as they began walking home. Syaoran owned a car, a very nice Lincoln Navigator, actually, a present from the Elders, probably to bribe him to come home, but he enjoyed every single one of his walks home with Sakura. She didn't know that he had the car, and he wasn't going to show off, yet.  
  
"Hoe, it was so confusing!" Sakura confessed to him, aware only slightly of how much he had changed in the past few years. Now that they were in their last year of high school, he had become more like a best friend than a rival.  
  
She still didn't understand why he remained here in Japan, when she had already captured all the cards. She knew that he couldn't possibly have stayed all of these years just because of her. There had to be another reason, but she had no idea of what it was. She pulled her coat tighter to her as another chilly gust of December wind blew at her and Syaoran.  
  
"Do you want to come over to my place, and I'll help you to.I'll go over it with you.or something," Syaoran stammered to her, a slight blush creeping up his face. It only intensified when Sakura flung her arms around him happily.  
  
"Honto ne? Would you Syaoran-kun? I'd love it! Nii-chan is constantly making fun of how bad I'm in Math. When do you want me to come over?"  
  
"How about right now?" Syaoran asked her, testing out his chances.  
  
"Hmm." Sakura thought about it. Her otou-san was at a Professor's conference in England, and Touya was at basketball practice for his college team. No one would miss her, besides Kero.  
  
Kero at Sakura's house:  
  
"Yeah! I just completed the tenth mission of Star Craft for the Zerg missions! Yes! Hmm.I wonder where Sakura-chan is.oh well, let's go, I'm going to beat this today! Let's go, Protoss!"  
  
She shook her head, smiling.  
  
"Hai, I'm coming," she grinned at Syaoran.  
  
"All right!" Syaoran cheered, then realized that he had said that out loud. "Oops."  
  
~Syaoran's House~  
  
Sakura mumbled over her work, not understanding any of it.  
  
"All right, here we go," Syaoran placed another cup of tea down besides her. "How are you doing here?"  
  
"Hoe!" Sakura said, going starry-eyed, and then taking a long sip of her tea, burning her tongue yet again. "I don't get any of it!"  
  
"All right, so what are you not understanding? Here, tell me how you're doing this problem?" Syaoran asked her.  
  
"OK.the question says."the measures of angles A and B of parallelogram ABCD are in the ration 3:7. Find the measures of angle A. So.you would first.umm.find the.umm.that.thing." she looked up helplessly at Syaoran. "I don't get it!" she told him.  
  
"It's OK," he told her with a smile. "We'll get through this. First of all, you need to place a variable to indicate this. Let's see.OK, can you tell me what is the relationship between angle A and B?"  
  
"Umm.they're.umm.Oh! They're supplementary!" Sakura shouted to him.  
  
He nodded. "Good, here and here's how you do the rest of this." Syaoran spent a good two more hours explaining everything to her. He just managed to glance at the clock next to him, when he paled.  
  
"Syaoran.what's wrong?" Sakura asked, looking up at him.  
  
"Umm.nothing!" Syaoran stammered.  
  
"What do you mean? Your face is so white! What's the matter?"  
  
"Oh.umm.well.it's already nine."  
  
"What?" Sakura jumped up. "Uh-oh.nii-chan's going to freak.I wonder why he hasn't called my cell yet?" She quickly checked it and realized that she had accidentally turned it off.  
  
"Ooohh.this is bad." She hastily checked her messages, and found around 30 from her frantic brother.  
  
"Well, I better run home then." she told Syaoran.  
  
"Hey, you live like 5 miles away from here!" Syaoran shouted to her as she ran out.  
  
"So?" Sakura yelled back. "Are you saying that I'm not in shape?"  
  
"No, just that if I drove you home, it'd be a lot faster!"  
  
"You have a car?!" Sakura shrieked to him.  
  
Syaoran blushed as she raced back. "Umm.yeah."  
  
"All right, hurry up.arigato Syaoran!" she said happily as he went inside to grab his keys.  
  
"Here, wait one second, I'll get the garage up," Syaoran said, carefully surveying his new house. That was also a present from the Elders, about a year after they had given him the car and he hadn't sent anything home besides a thank you note. It was a nice two-story house, too big for him to live in by himself, so he mostly stayed downstairs. The house was very modern, and he loved his kitchen. It saved his life many times after school when he was starving. And somehow, his refrigerator always seemed to be full of food. Syaoran still hadn't figured out whether or not the Elders had magicked the fridge, or if they had people spying on him.  
  
His mother had repeatedly asked him if she could send Wei over to take care of him, but he always refused, politely, of course. His mother was the only one who was keeping his chances of being the Li Clan Leader alive. He had spent too many years here in Japan and most of his relatives were wondering whether or not they should be looking for another Leader to take his place.  
  
He knew that Li Chimin would jump at that chance. He was the same exact age as Syaoran, though not as well-trained. He was the next in line to take over the Li Clan. He himself wondered sometimes why he still stayed in Japan. But, as he took a quick glance at the girl next to him, he knew why.  
  
Sakura. It was obvious to everyone that he liked her. Except her. She just didn't have single clue. Or, if she did, she was a splendid actress at hiding it. He wasn't quite sure why he still hadn't told her his true feelings about her, but he guessed that he was too shy about it. Hah. Him, the mighty Li Warrior shy about this? Yeah. Telling the girl of his dreams about how he felt about her was pretty high on his list of things to do, but he could never muster enough courage to do it. The timing was just always off.  
  
Anyway, Sakura and him were now seniors in high school. Thankfully, he knew enough in his studies to not pay any attention in class and still pass. He had been tutored extremely well in Hong Kong.  
  
Sakura, on the other hand, needed some extra help.  
  
"Ohmigawd!" Sakura gasped as she saw his car in the garage. A silver Nav, Syaoran smiled smugly as Sakura's jaw dropped open in shock.  
  
"Now hurry up, we're supposed to get you home faster, not slower!"  
  
Sakura quickly got in, sliding on the plush leather seats.  
  
"How much did this cost? I can't believe it!" she whispered.  
  
"Eh.a token of appreciation from the loving Li Elders," Syaoran admitted.  
  
Sakura smiled. "Wow, that's awesome. Here, drop me off here, so nii-chan won't see you.'tou-san is in England, a Professor's conference," she supplied to Syaoran's unspoken question.  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow," Sakura said to him.  
  
All right Syaoran, it's now or never. "Hey, Sakura, would you have any time after school tomorrow, to like, get some coffee or something?"  
  
Sakura looked at him, her eyebrows raised. "Tomorrow?"  
  
"Yeah, after practices, of course, to celebrate your umm.passing of that math test, all right?" Syaoran silently prayed to the God above to help him.  
  
"Sure, why not?" Sakura asked him, confused as to why he looked so scared and nervous.  
  
Syaoran grinned. "All right," he said, barely containing his excitement inside.  
  
Sakura hopped out and with a quick wave to Syaoran, ran up her street to her house. Touya was anxiously waiting for her, and as soon as he saw her, headed outside to see if the "Chinese Brat was still waiting for her."  
  
"Hai, he asked me to go out tomorrow!" Sakura squealed into her phone.  
  
"Wow!" Tomoyo replied, trying to get into Sakura's enthusiasm. She gave a thumbs up to Eriol, who she was talking with on her vidphone.  
  
"Tomorrow, huh? That's great, Sakura-chan! Now, are you going to come over so that I can get you ready in a cute outfit?"  
  
Sakura sighed. "All right."  
  
Tomoyo smiled happily. "Yosha!"  
  
~Next Day~  
  
Syaoran eagerly skated to school, easily maneuvering around three different cars and then jumping up onto the sidewalk. He slid down a flight of stairs, and then did a quick ollie as he passed by the park.  
  
Meeting up with Sakura, he smiled within himself as he saw her struggling with several different TOEFL books. She wanted to go study at a university in England after she finished high school, instead of competing with all of the students in Japan. She knew that her father would be able to afford it, especially because he went there so often. He had already bought his own apartment there, where he lived whenever he went for an archaeology presentation or conference to London.  
  
She groaned as she slid off her blades and landed on the ground.  
  
"I told you that you shouldn't blade to school when it's so cold outside!" Syaoran scolded her. "The ground's all slippery. You'll fall and break your leg or something!"  
  
Sakura nodded, but her eyes were fixed on his skateboard. "Why can you skate to school all the time without falling?"  
  
Syaoran sighed. "Sakura," he started to say.  
  
"No, Syaoran, don't. I'm just so jealous of you, because you're better than me at everything. You're so smart, so poised, so.oh, I don't know why it makes me so mad. I wish that I was good at something!"  
  
Syaoran carefully placed Sakura's books down on the ground and bent down so that he looked straight into her emerald eyes.  
  
"Sakura, why do you doubt yourself in so many things that you are good in? You always see the good in everyone, refusing to believe that anyone would be able to have any evil in them." He chuckled slightly. "When I first met you, I thought that it would be your weakness, accepting everyone. But I was wrong. It was your strongest power against me. When I was down, on the ground, you were still standing for me. You accepted me, after all that I did to you. It was amazing! You are in better than me in so many ways, that you refuse to see yourself."  
  
Sakura faintly smiled up at him, her eyes misting over, a single tear trailing down her cheek.  
  
"Syaoran.arigato," she whispered to him.  
  
"C'mon, Sakura. We're going to be late to school," he replied, giving her hand a slight squeeze. She stood up, helped by him. He lifted her books and school bag off of her, ignoring her pleas to give them back.  
  
"Hurry up, I'll hold them for you. We just need to get to school as fast as we can."  
  
Sakura nodded, right behind Syaoran as they headed for school.  
  
Syaoran was waiting for Sakura when she exited the school after her cheerleading practice. His coach had canceled basketball practice because of a mysterious disappearance of the balls.  
  
Syaoran smiled within himself, knowing exactly where they were. Sakura had just come out, accompanied by Tomoyo. Her jaw dropped as she saw Syaoran waiting in his car for her.  
  
He saw her nudging Tomoyo and pointing at his car. Tomoyo's face was an enjoyment to Syaoran, a complete picture of surprise. He was delighted. He had never seen Tomoyo so happy before.  
  
Sakura slowly walked down the walkway to his car. He rolled down the window. "Did you want a ride?" he asked her with a grin. "I thought that you would, since it's so cold outside."  
  
"I just think that.I don't know.hai, I do," she stammered. "Uhh, Tomoyo- chan.I'm going to.hoe."  
  
Tomoyo smiled sweetly at her, managing to hide a smirk from Syaoran and Sakura. "That's OK Sakura. I'll see you later, bye Syaoran." Winking, she headed for Eriol's car, a black Spider Convertible. Eriol smirked at Syaoran, which he was able to visibly see from behind.  
  
Managing to keep his temper, he glanced over at a cheerful Sakura. "Uhh.so, where do you want to go?" he asked her.  
  
"Well, a nice coffee place, I guess.isn't that what you said yesterday?" she asked him.  
  
"Eh.hai!" he replied quickly. "Starbuck's?" he asked, rapidly naming off the first coffee place that he could think of.  
  
She nodded. "All right."  
  
"My treat, you know. I'm so glad that you finally passed! You're going to do good in math this year, I'm sure of it!" he encouraged her.  
  
Sakura shook her head. "Arigato Syaoran, but I don't think that I would be.I don't know. Maybe, if I try hard enough, maybe."  
  
Syaoran slowly moved his hand over and took Sakura's. "I know that you can," he told her softly.  
  
She was startled, and just stared down at his hand clasping hers for a moment. Then she raised her eyes to meet his. "Syaoran?" she questioned softly.  
  
"Sakura."  
  
"I was just wondering if."  
  
"Eh.we're here," Syaoran quickly said, releasing his hand from Sakura's. He realized that it was wet and clammy, and he blushed, the familiar red creeping up his cheeks.  
  
Syaoran paused as he glanced at his rearview mirror. He froze as he saw a black convertible behind him, realizing that Eriol and Tomoyo had followed Sakura and him here.  
  
"Syaoran? Syaoran?" he heard Sakura's voice and that broke him out of his trance.  
  
"Nani?" he questioned.  
  
"I said, are we eating in or taking out?"  
  
"Eh.whatever you want," he replied.  
  
Sakura looked out as they pulled into the parking lot and her eyes widened. It was fully packed with people and she shook her head at Syaoran.  
  
"It's really crowded.how are we even going to hear ourselves in that mess? Let's grab something and then get out of there, all right?"  
  
Syaoran nodded. "Whatever you want. What do you want?"  
  
"Umm.a caramel frappucino.get lots of whipped cream please," she said, smiling at Syaoran. "Arigato!"  
  
"All right," Syaoran replied. Getting out, he ignored the convertible that was parked a few spots away from him. Quickly, he made his way through the mingling crowd to the counter and ordered.  
  
The cute girl at the counter grinned at him and quickly filled it out, while flirting with him. Syaoran took the frappucino and mocha politely and took off, trying to ignore the girls that were staring at him as he exited the store.  
  
Sakura sat by herself in Syaoran's car as she waited for him, watching him making his way through the crowd of mobbing girls. He was so sweet, she thought to herself, as she saw him politely shook his head and exited from Starbuck's.  
  
"So, where do you want to go?" Syaoran asked Sakura as he started up the engine again, handing Sakura her drink.  
  
"Umm.I don't know. There's not a lot of places to go right now, are there.winter."  
  
"Well, why don't we go down to the coast? I mean, I know that it's the winter and it's cold, but I bet you've never seen the beach during winter!"  
  
"No, I haven't seen it in the winter yet.but how would you know about it?" Sakura asked him with a puzzled look on her face.  
  
"I drove down there last weekend. I was bored, and needed to get some fresh air," Syaoran said, a hint of a blush on his face.  
  
"Then let's go!"  
  
Sakura walked down the beach besides Syaoran, both of them just making some small talk. The shore was absolutely deserted with no other sign of life besides the two of them. Sakura had thought that she'd be a bit shy to be by herself with Syaoran at such lonely place, but she found that she had no problems.  
  
Syaoran was keeping the conversation going. They were talking about their futures now. Sakura had spilled to him her secret aspiration of being a doctor. She had never told anyone that before, since many people thought that only men could be physicians. Syaoran, however, supported her completely.  
  
"I'm supposed to be the Clan Leader, so there's nothing else for me to do. I've always wanted to be a pilot though. Flying through the clouds. I know that that's such a childish dream. But ever since I was a kid, I've always thought that it would be so much fun to go flying. I loved taking airplanes places when I was younger. I'd always be allowed to go in the cockpit with the pilots, since my family was so influential. I loved seeing and looking at all of the instruments and the colors and everything. My father, before he died, took me flying once." Syaoran swallowed hard, suddenly realizing how far he'd gotten in the story. He'd never gotten this far before, never told anyone about this, never even gotten close to telling Sakura about his family life before. What had changed that?  
  
"Syaoran? It's all right. I understand if you don't want to talk about it."  
  
Syaoran smiled. That was Sakura. Always so sympathetic and kind. "No, I'm fine," he managed to say.  
  
"Don't worry. I know that you'll become a great pilot and go to the greatest aviation school possible. You'll be famous as a flyer and I'll tell everyone that I know that you're my best friend and everything. And one day, when we meet again, you can tell me everything about your flights," Sakura said happily, not quite realizing how deeply her words had wounded and sunk into Syaoran.  
  
He turned to face her and stood still. She paused, and looked up at him, questioning. Both of them had completely forgotten about Eriol and Tomoyo, who were, as of now, hiding behind a pair of boulders only a few hundred feet away, watching them attentively.  
  
"Do you really think that we'll part after this year and never see each other again?" Syaoran asked her softly. Sakura was caught by surprise at this question.  
  
"." She couldn't reply, couldn't think of anything to say. "I'll be going to college in England and staying with 'tou-san. You're going to return to Hong Kong to be the Li Clan Leader. I'm not sure if there will be much of a chance of us meeting," she confessed finally, not quite sure if he was as scared of this as she was.  
  
"And that will be the end of that? All of these times that we've spent together. All of the memories that we've shared. Will of those be gone also? Just like this friendship that we've kept?" Syaoran asked bitterly. He didn't even know what he was saying now.  
  
"All of these years that we've been together. Everything we've gone through. The battles we've fought and won. The pain that I've caused my family by remaining here.with you. The pain that I've gone through. All of this. To be gone and forgotten all by next year at this time?" Syaoran paused and shook his head.  
  
Sakura stood silently, just watching him, not quite sure if she should talk. She was still just barely absorbing all that he had just said. Had he just told her that he had sacrificed his last five years in Japan just for her? That was insane! That was impossible! That was ridiculous! That would never ever happen.  
  
Syaoran suddenly raised his eyes up and met hers directly.  
  
No.it wasn't. Not if it was Syaoran. With him, anything was at risk. She smiled at him, suddenly, putting him on guard at first, and then at ease. She understood him.  
  
"No, Syaoran. Nothing will be forgotten. Of course we'll meet again. We won't ever forget each other. We've been together too long and through so much together that I'd never ever forget you, and you know that too."  
  
Syaoran sighed. Yes, he did know that. He took a step closer to Sakura, and she didn't move away, but instead, kept her eyes focused on his warm amber ones.  
  
"I.love you, Sakura." She smiled gently at him, and then kissed his cheek tenderly.  
  
"Hey, Syaoran-kun!" they heard Eriol behind them and they both whirled around. "Here's your journal! That was awesome!"  
  
Tomoyo smacked Eriol hard on his head. "You ruined it!" she yelled at him, livid with anger.  
  
"No, watch this. He'd never had done this if it weren't for me," Eriol told Tomoyo soothingly. Grudgingly, she pulled back to finish videotaping.  
  
Sakura glanced at the journal that Syaoran was now holding and then back at Syaoran. "Journal?"  
  
He winced at the hurt and pain that he heard coursing through her voice. "Sakura, I can explain. Please, listen to me."  
  
"No, Syaoran. I understand. It won't work. Not with me. You know it won't. I'm not like one of those regular girls who get pulled around by those players all the time. You know I'm not. You know me. And I thought that I knew you. Apparently, I don't," her voice trailed off, and she turned around to run off, but Syaoran wouldn't let her.  
  
Quickly, he grabbed her sleeve and pulled her back to him. No, he couldn't just let her go. Not when they were this close. No, he hadn't planned to do this, but if he didn't, he was going to lose her. And he couldn't let that happen.  
  
Barely even thinking about the consequences, he bent his head down and kissed Sakura. Long, and sweet, pouring out his emotions to her. She struggled to free herself, but he kept a secure grasp on her, and she finally succumbed to him. As they broke away to breathe, Syaoran released his firm grip on Sakura, allowing her to move away. He had just wanted to show her how much he truly did love her. He had never been much of a talker anyway.  
  
Averting his eyes, he looked down at his journal. It had gotten him into so much trouble, but he still needed it.  
  
He felt something touch him, touch his shoulder, and he hesitantly raised his head, not sure of what to expect from her, a slap, or something else. Her emerald eyes were unreadable at first, and he had no idea what to do. But then they cleared, and her real emotion stood out.  
  
"Syaoran, aishiteru," she whispered.  
  
"Sakura." There was no more need for words. She understood him, just like she always had and always would.  
  
Tomoyo was shaken away from her reverie of Sakura and Syaoran's first kiss as Eriol drew her into his arms and kissed her also.  
  
Lala.figured that I needed to stick something in there about E+T at the end.I suck at endings anyway.can never figure out ways to bring everything together.well.what did you think? R+R please!  
  
~RubyGurl 


End file.
